Religion A shared trait among the gnomes is their need to understand the big picture of life. It is a common belief that there is a veil that must be pierced to attain salvation. They are not sure what they are looking for though, and few claim to have found it. This does not daunt the gnomes however. Rather, they see themselves as perfectly fit for this task. After all they are gifted with superior patience, attention to detail and intelligence. They believe that all gnomes can play a part in this puzzle and that they will succeed by working together. This belief has been firmly established since the public opening of the Grand Royal Library of Frimblir. It is a widespread belief that the divine can be found in the randomness that occurs outside the boundaries of patterns. This has led the gnomes to study fields like mathematics and astronomy with zealous endeavor. They have even been known to join other religious cults for the pure sake of gaining access to ancient scriptures. A common debate is whether divine is best sought in old or new resources of knowledge. Unveiling the divine is about understanding, not practicing, and the gnomes differ greatly from many other races on this point – most notably the dwarves with whom they share so many other cultural traits with. Superstition Gnomes are no less superstitious than other races, but their attitude towards superstition is different. Where other people will find it best not to disturb that which they do not understand, the gnomes will redouble their efforts to unravel it. They fear uncontrollable chaos, since too often the twist of chance has ruined centuries of hard work. This is another aspect showing why they are so keen to understand the complex workings of the universe – if something is comprehensible it can be controlled, or at least avoided.